Despite the fact that production in the Netherlands is in its worst shape, there is some improvement, says BNR in-house economist Han de Jong. “It’s hard to say it’s not that bad, but there was still a 12 percent drop in April.” In addition, production was also slightly up from April and “that’s good.” But De Jong notes that the figures continue to fluctuate widely.
Criminals
The manufacturing industry is therefore showing a decline, but this week it has emerged that interest rates on savings are soaring. The European Central Bank (ECB) quickly raised the savings rate from zero to 4%. Banks are now following suit. For example, Openbank currently offers the highest savings interest. This is where your savings pay off the most in relative terms.
However, not all banks received positive news this week. For example, the online bank Revolut lost more than 18 million euros. According to the Financial Times, criminals could take advantage of an internal error. As a result, the online bank would not return the customers’ money, but their own money during a payment processing problem.
Euro banknotes
So this week there have been problems with online transactions, but physical banknotes have also made headlines. The ECB wants European citizens to help design a new series of euro banknotes. According to ECB President Christine Lagarde, the central bank wants citizens’ input so that “Europeans identify with the design of the euro banknotes”.
Meanwhile, there seems to be a light at the end of the tunnel in the cryptocurrency world. The price of bitcoin has increased by 30% in one month. Partly due to recent price increases, the outlook for the cryptocurrency world seems to be getting better and better. Prices are in relatively good shape, and the value of bitcoin is up 90% since the start of this year alone.